Hamilton students holds mock graduation ceremony for ill mom

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3:48 pm CDT, Saturday, March 16, 2019

With her diploma in hand, Claire Matthews smiles at her mother, Susan, during a mock graduation that was held Wednesday, March 15, 2019 at the Discovery Care Centre in Hamilton, Mont. More than 30 Hamilton High School seniors attended the event. (Perry Backus/The Ravalli Republic via AP) less

With her diploma in hand, Claire Matthews smiles at her mother, Susan, during a mock graduation that was held Wednesday, March 15, 2019 at the Discovery Care Centre in Hamilton, Mont. More than 30 Hamilton High ... more

Photo: Perry Backus, AP

Photo: Perry Backus, AP

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With her diploma in hand, Claire Matthews smiles at her mother, Susan, during a mock graduation that was held Wednesday, March 15, 2019 at the Discovery Care Centre in Hamilton, Mont. More than 30 Hamilton High School seniors attended the event. (Perry Backus/The Ravalli Republic via AP) less

With her diploma in hand, Claire Matthews smiles at her mother, Susan, during a mock graduation that was held Wednesday, March 15, 2019 at the Discovery Care Centre in Hamilton, Mont. More than 30 Hamilton High ... more

Photo: Perry Backus, AP

Hamilton students holds mock graduation ceremony for ill mom

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HAMILTON, Mont. (AP) — Susan Matthews always dreamed of the day that she would see her daughter, Claire, in a cap and gown receiving her high school diploma.

"It's always been her goal to see me graduate," Claire Matthews said.

Claire was in her mother's sixth-grade science class the year that Susan was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

"We had a lot of substitute teachers that year because she had so many surgeries," Claire said. "We also had a couch in the back in the room for when she needed to lie down.

"Looking back and thinking about all those 12-year-old sixth-graders who are notorious for being wild, I remember their kindness toward my mom," she said. "Everyone would be like Ms. Matthews needs to lie down and for about 10 minutes everyone would be perfectly quiet while doing their work. Then she would pop up and we would continue on doing our lesson.

"She was able to do all the fun projects with us, the slime, the rockets," Claire said. "She knew how to make science fun."

On Wednesday, Claire saw that same kindness again when some of those very same students took the time to don their caps and gowns during a mock graduation ceremony at the Discovery Care Centre in Hamilton, where her mother is currently in hospice care.

"At Christmas time, we found out that my mom's cancer was much worse that what we originally thought it was," Claire said.

The cancer had spread.

"She was in a lot of pain around Christmas," Claire said. "We learned that it had spread to her bones, spine, scapula, liver and in her blood. The tumors were everywhere. She chose not to go through with chemotherapy.

"She declined a lot faster that we had originally expected," she said. "Me and my mom have lived alone for a while, so it's been a tough transition."

Claire knew that her mother wanted to see her graduate, but the doctors said that she isn't expected to live that long.

"That was about two weeks ago," she said. "Even if she were still somehow to be alive in June, she would be completely incapacitated. She wouldn't even know that I was graduating. Time was not on our side."

Her friend, DeeDee Rogers, decided something had to be done.

"One night, my grandma came into my room because we had been talking about Claire's situation for a long time," Rogers said. "We were trying to find a way to make all this easier on her."

Her grandmother asked if it might be possible for Claire to graduate early.

"I told her I didn't think that would be possible because we have to have all our credits before we graduate," she said. "But maybe we could do a mock graduation just for her mom."

That next morning, Rogers set that idea in motion by going directly to the school's counselor and the principal. That happened last week.

"DeeDee had a calling to do something for her friend, Claire, and Susan," said Hamilton High School Principal Dan Kimzey.

She approached school counselor, Ellen Ryter, and the two went to work to make it happen, Kimzey said.

"It's impressive to see a high school student accomplish that much in a week," Kimzey said.

On Wednesday night, close to 40 high school seniors gathered in their caps and gowns at the Discovery Care Centre and, to the sounds of the traditional graduation Pomp and Circumstance March, were presented with the folders that would hold their diplomas in June.

"It's been overwhelming getting to this point because we all wanted it to be really special for Claire," Rogers said. "Everyone deserves to be able to graduate in front of their family. It's a special moment. Claire has been through so much. More than anything, she deserves that."

The Hamilton High seniors had just received their graduation caps and gowns on the day Rogers told Claire about her idea.

"I burst into tears," Claire said. "I knew how super important it was for Mom to see me in my cap and gown. I asked her if It would be all rright if I came in with them on, but I didn't realize how big this was going to be. I thought it was just going to be me and a few friends."

But once the word about the mock graduation spread, the two young women were surprised by how many of their classmates felt like they needed to be there. They ended up having to cap the numbers because of the space available at Discovery Care Centre.

Those who couldn't come signed a Class of 2019 graduation poster that now hangs in Susan's room.

"When I started planning this out, I wanted to bring in everyone who has known Claire and had Ms. Matthews in sixth grade," Rogers said. "We've all been in school together for years and we're really close. I thought it was important that we all share this moment with Claire.

"I think we all need a little support sometimes," she said. "My main priority was making her happy because this is a special moment in a person's life and we should be celebrating it. I thought it was important that we spend this time together."

Claire said her mother taught in most of the Bitterroot Valley schools during her career, as well as stints in Japan and England.

"My mom knows almost all the educators in this building," she said. "I think that it will be a nice farewell. They have supported us for the past seven years. To have it all come together at the end like this is really nice. I guarantee there will be many tears."

And there was.

"It went a lot better than I imagined it would," Rogers said Thursday. "It was really lovely. I'm so glad that Claire had a good time."